Panther
The Panther was a German medium tank deployed during World War II on the Eastern and Western Fronts in Europe from mid-1943 to the war's end in 1945. Overview This tank had the ordnance inventory designation of Sd. Kfz. 171. It was designated as the Panzerkampfwagen'' V ''Panther until 27 February 1944, when Hitler ordered that the Roman numeral "V" be deleted. Contemporary English language reports sometimes refer to it as the "Mark V".The Panther was intended to counter the Soviet T-34 and to replace the Panzer III and Panzer IV. Nevertheless, it served alongside the Panzer IV and the heavier Tiger I until the end of the war. It is considered one of the best tanks of World War II for its excellent firepower and protection, although its reliability was less impressive. In Flames of War In the game the Panther has excellent stats for a standard tank class: * it has front armour of 10, side armour of 5 and top armour 1; * long-barreled 7.5cm KwK42 L/70 gun., giving the Panther Anti-tank rating of 14, surpassing most of its rivals in the medium tank class and many heavy tanks, including the Tiger I; * passes cross tests on 2+, better than most of the rival tanks. The only drawback of the Panther is its cost - the HQ section for Late-War costs 375 points with two tanks, a three-tank platoon costs 560 points while a five-tank one - 940 points. Deploying whole company of those tanks requires exceeding the 3000 point limit. Unit organization Panther tanks might be deployed in three possible formations: * as Panther tank company; * as a part of Panzer IV tank company (one platoon); * as support for another formation. A Late-War Panther tank company is composed of the headquarters section with two tanks (375 points), two or three combat platoons with 3, 4 or 5 tanks and might also contain an armoured anti-aircraft platoon as the part of the company. One mandatory Panther tank platoon might be exchanged to a Tiger tank platoon and the optional third platoon might be exchanged into a Panzer IV tank platoon. The Ghost Panzers rulebook allows fielding Panther D tanks either in their own Panther tank company or as a part of the Panzer IV (late) tank company. One Panther D costs 18 points in Mid-War games. Unlike most of the German tank crews being rate Confident Veteran, Panther crews in "Ghost Panzers" are rated Confident Green, which results in poorer skill rating (5+ instead of 3+) . Model kits Resin-metal ones: * GE060 Panther D * GBX19 Panther A Platoon * GBX66 Panther G Platoon * GEAB11 SS-Kampfgruppe Peiper (four resin Panther G tanks plus one damaged Panther tank as an objective marker) Plastic ones: * GBX84 Panther/Jagdpanther Platoon * GEAB13 Rommel's Wolves (parts for up to 10 Panther G tanks) * TANKS06 German Panther Tank Expansion * GEAB15 German Panzer Kampfgruppe (five Panther G tanks) * GBX126 Panther Tank Platoon (two Panther D tanks) Model assembly The resin and metal model kits are composed of the following parts: * resin turret; * resin hull; * metal threads; * metal gun barrel; * metal commander's cupola; * metal additional details, including commander figurines. Assembling those do not cause trouble, except for making sure the gun barrel is located straight. The currently-manufactured plastic model kits might be assembled either as Panther G or Jagdpanther, depending on the upper hull used. The plastic parts fit well to each other and the sprues do not resist against cutting, the biggest concern is to make sure the gun barrel is placed straight. The only real drawback of those kits are the side skirts, which come in two variants: * those for Pather G have traces after molding, which require sand paper to make them look smooth; * the skirts for Jagdpanther do not fit the hull with the excessive nubs protruding from the side - they must be trimmed before the assembly. GSO199.jpg|The sprue with tracks and accesories. GSO214.jpg|Panther/Jagdpanther body sprue. GBX161-13.jpg|Panther A hull and turret sprue released in September 2019. Painting Panthers started to appear in 1943 when they made their debut in the Eastern Front. A suggested colour scheme is dark yellow as a primer with brown and green for camouflage. The tanks may also be winterized with a whitewash. Suggested paints: Primer * Battlefront Panther Yellow * Humbrol H94 enamel * Army Painter Desert Yellow Camouflage: * medium or darker tones of green * darker tones of brown * Citadel Base Ceramite White (whitewash) * steel metalizer (for machineguns and exposed metal parts) Combat efficiency With the long-barreled 75mm gun, front armour 10 and good mobility, the Panther is an excellent choice for a medium tank. It outclasses its Allied and Soviet rivals, though it still might be destroyed even with shots at the frontal armour: * the Soviet 85mm gun in T-34/85, SU-85 and IS-1 with anti-tank 12 might destroy the Panther on a save roll 1, roll 2 results in bail out; * the 122mm guns in IS-2 and ISU-122 (anti-tank 15) pose much worse threat, only roll 6 saves the Panther from being destroyed, roll 5 leads to bail out while worse score on the die will lead to Panther's demise on successful 2+ firepower rolls; * while the Panther cannot defend well from the Soviet 100mm gun (both towed and mounted in SU-100) - a roll 6 leads to bail out and the Panther's armour is penetrated on worse rolls; * the British 17-Pounder anti-tank gun has the same efficiency against Panther's armour like the Soviet 122mm guns, except for 3+ firepower rating; * American tank guns also pose a serious threat to the Panther - the 76mm guns in late Sherman tanks and M10/M18 tank destroyers pierce Panther's front armour on a save roll 1 or 2; the 90mm gun in M26 Pershing and M36 Jackson does the trick on save rolls 1, 2 or 3. * Even the Stuart tanks might harm the Panther when attacking side and rear armour - there are always chances the German player rolls 1 on armour save, which counts as penetrating the armour. Suggested tactics With the side and rear armour 5, Panther remains vulnerable to attacks and cannot defend from the shots aimed there. Thus an effective use of Panther tanks requires the use of natural obstacles to protect from losses, similar to Panzer IV. However, the gun with anti-tank 14 allows the Panther to fight with any Allied or Soviet tank, with greater chances of success than its predecessor as long as it is not hit from a powerful weapon. Ghost Panzers Due to poor crew skills and quite expensive unit cost, the Panthers should be used to snipe enemy tanks from the distance and avoid exposing their rear armour. Image gallery GBX126-03-2.jpg GEAB15-19.png GEAB15-21.png|Panther tank platoon unit card for V4. Panthers_13a.JPG|A five-tank platoon built from the platoon box. Panthers_15b.JPG|Different camouflage schemes. panther preorder.jpg GBX161-15-2.jpg Category:Vehicles Category:Tanks Category:German Category:Mid-war Category:Late-war Category:Axis Category:Armoured Tanks Category:Tank Teams Category:Formations